Blog

Three killed in Burundi as toll from political violence rises

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Violence
Nairobi, Oct. 11, 2016 (Reuters/NAN) A ruling party official and two others were killed in a bar in Southern Burundi, an official said on Tuesday, as an addition to casualties of 18 months of political violence grows.

The Regional Official, Joachim-Manirakiza said that unidentified gunmen attacked the bar in Saga village, Rumonge province, at around 8:30 p.m. on Monday evening.

He said that a school principal was among the victims.

The African country has been gripped by political strife and conflict since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s sought and won a third term in 2015.

The opponents accused  him of  violating the constitution and terms of a peace deal that ended civil war in 2005.

At least three rebel groups have taken up arms against Nkurunziza and hundreds have been killed, including opposition figures and government officials, in tit-for-tat violence.

The UN Human Rights Council agreed last week to set up a commission of inquiry to identify perpetrators of killings and torture in Burundi and to ensure they are brought to justice. Burundi rejected the move.

At least 564 killings have been documented by the UN in Burundi since the unrest broke out. (Reuters/NAN)

(Edited by Damilola Oyewole/ Julius Enehikhuere)

Merkel calls on AU to help solve Libya conflict

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Conflict
Addis Ababa, Oct. 11, 2016 (Reuters/NAN) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a trip to Ethiopia, said she wanted the African Union (AU) to get involved in trying to solve the conflict in Libya.

“I am expressly in favour of the AU bringing its influence to bear to help solve the conflict,” Merkel said in a speech to the AU.

She said that Libya had become a “sad example” of the consequences of state structures collapsing.

She said that African states had to increase their efforts in fighting Islamist militants and illegal migration, adding that they needed to introduce democratic and economic reforms to undermine terrorist activity.

Merkel said she would make Africa a priority for Germany’s G20 presidency next year. (Reuters/NAN)

(Edited Damilola Oyewole/ Julius Enehikhuere)

EU countries make important progress on contested financial tax

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Tax
Luxembourg, Oct. 11, 2016 (dpa/NAN) A group of EU member states has made “very important progress” towards hashing out a controversial tax on financial transactions, a top EU official said on Tuesday, with the project beset by repeated delays.

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain have been negotiating the tax for nearly three years.

They had at one point planned to start implementing it this year.

The finance ministers met to evaluate technical progress made since June.

Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling had warned that they should aim for an agreement by September or else give up entirely.

However, the ministers made “very important progress” on Monday, EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the following morning in Luxembourg.

“They agreed on the four important measures that will form the core engine of such a tax.

“Hopefully, in the weeks to come, we will be capable of submitting this draft to the ministers so that they can go to the finish line.

“This is, I think, something that is expected by a lot of people who would like to see the financial sector contribute to the financing of some important public goods,” he said.

Moscovici said that his office would now prepare draft legislation.

The idea of introducing a financial transaction tax in the EU has long been controversial and could not find support among all 28 member states.

The 10 countries are using a go-it-alone EU approach known as enhanced cooperation. (dpa/NAN)

(Edited by Damilola Oyewole/ Julius Enehikhuere)

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Agriculture

By Mohammad Tijjani

Kaduna, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) Dr Balarabe Jahun, the Provost, College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Mondo, says diversification to agriculture by government is the right direction to pull Nigeria out of economic rot.

Jahun told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna that, if Nigeria can produce over 50 per cent of its agricultural needs, it would reduce the country’s challenges and ensure stability.

According to him, self sufficiency in food production and export of the excess will boost the economy, increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product and create employment.

“No economy can grow without production, so we must depart from being a consumer nation,’’ he said.

The provost said that Nigeria has the capacity to produce all it required and export the surplus.

He said that Agricultural Value Chain in crop cultivation, animal production, tree crop plantation, orchard, processing and marketing offer limitless opportunities to Nigerians willing to go into agriculture.

Jahun said teh country would gain immensely if appropriate value was added to its produce.(NAN)

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Edited by Bayo Sekoni and Controlled by Maharazu Ahmed

Train station evacuated in southern Germany due to bomb threat

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Train

Karlsruhe, Oct. 11, 2016 (dpa/NAN) A railway station was evacuated and train travel halted early on Tuesday due to a bomb threat in Southern Germany, the police said.

The station in Rastatt in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is one of the key points connecting the North and South of Germany via the country’s high-speed Intercity-Express (ICE) service.

“Nothing is entering or leaving the station,” a spokesman for the federal police in the city of Offenburg said.

Passengers were asked to leave the platforms and the station building was evacuated.

An area in front of the station was also cordoned off.

It is unclear why the alarm was raised and no suspicious devices had yet been found.

Bomb disposal experts and sniffer dogs were operating at the scene.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Baden-Wuerttemberg said that there was no indication of a politically motivated attack.

The federal police said that local authorities had been made aware of the threat by telephone.

They gave no further details so as not to hamper an ongoing investigation into the incident.

Germany has been on high alert following three violent attacks in Bavaria, which neighbours Baden-Wuerttemberg, in recent months.

One of the attacks took place on a train, when a 17-year-old Afghan wielding a knife and axe lunged at passengers. (dpa/NAN)
OYE/AMY
Edited Damilola Oyewole and Abdullahi Yusuf

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Beer
By Deborah Akpede
Lagos, Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) A Lagos court has slammed a N300, 000 bail on an unemployed man, 32-year-old Debo Adisa, for allegedly stabbing a man with a broken bottle at a hotel for refusing to buy him a beer.

Adisa was released on bail on Tuesday by an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court after he pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

The Magistrate, Mr A.A. Adesanya, who gave the ruling, said the accused should produce two sureties as part of the bail condition.

Adisa, whose address is unknown, is being tried for breach of the peace and assault.
According to the prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu, the accused committed the offences on Oct. 3 at Donmorgan Hotel, Dopemu, Lagos.
He said the accused assaulted Mr Temitope Segun by stabbing him with a broken bottle for refusing to buy him a beer.
“The accused used a broken bottle to stab the complainant repeatedly all over his body.”
Nwosu said the complainant was in the hotel taking a drink when the accused approached him and ordered him to buy him a beer but he declined.
“The accused started hitting him. The complainant hit him back and the accused got angry, broke a bottle and started stabbing him.
“Blood was gushing out of the complainant’s body and people in the hotel ran away while the management of the hotel quickly alerted the police to arrest him,” he said.
According to the prosecutor, the complainant is still receiving treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
The offences contravened Sections 166 and 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused, on conviction, may be sentenced to a three-year jail term, according to the Section 171 of the Criminal Law.

The case has been adjourned to Nov. 28 for mention. (NAN)
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Edited & controlled by Dele Akinsola

Kachikwu urges petroleum agencies to develop self funding mechanism

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Funding

By Kingsley Okoye

Abuja, Oct 11, 2016(NAN) The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has urged parastatal agencies under the ministry to develop a roadmap for  self funding of their activities within the next three to  four years.

A statement by Head of Press, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Kalu Otisi  in Abuja on Tuesday, stated that Kachikwu gave the charge while inspecting PTDF’s upgraded projects in PTI  Effurum Delta-State.

“The Federal Government is not going to continue to be sending you yearly disbursements in perpetuity.

“ It’s never going to work, so a major challenge is to identify those areas where you will have a big commercial nexus both for the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry.”

According to the statement, facilities inspected by the minister included an ultra-modern laboratory complex, a one- stop laboratory for research and training in diverse areas of onshore and offshore operations.

Other projects are facilities for exploration, drilling and production provided by PTDF, a demonstration training land rig with flow station rehabilitated and made functional by PTDF and the latest drilling simulators, welding and mechanical workshops.

Kachikwu, accompanied by some senior officials of the  ministry  including the new Executive Secretary of PTDF, Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau, commended the Fund for the rigorous implementation of its capacity building programmes.

“I am very impressed with what they have done. It’s actually one of the agencies that you don’t need to do an audit to see where their resources are being utilised.

“I have been to some of the projects done by PTDF; I was in the University of Nigeria Nsukka,

“ I was in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and some other places where they have been able to make a huge difference; I am extremely impressed with the work that they have done in PTI too.”

He urged the Principal of the Petroleum Training Institute, Prof. Sunny Iyuke, to adopt a maintenance re-orientation for the training institute.

He said this would attract the kind of scholarship that would help to increase the revenue generation profile of the Institution

The PTDF is mandated by law to build capacities and capabilities in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry through the development of human capacities

It also ensures institutional capacity development and the promotion of research and acquisition of relevant technologies.(NAN)

KC/IA

(Edited by Idris Abdulrahman)

More than 30 Kurdish politicians nabbed in Turkish raids

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Raid

Istanbul, Oct. 11, 2016 (dpa/NAN) More than 30 members of the opposition Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) are under arrest in South-Eastern Turkey after a series of police raids, a spokesman for an affiliated group said Tuesday.

The charges against the politicians, many of them officials at the provincial or district level, remain unclear.

It is also not clear if this is linked to a series of rolling purges launched by Turkish officials since an attempted coup in July.

Of those arrested, 25 of the politicians were from Diyarbakir province, while seven came from Bitlis province.

Police also raided the homes of three senior party officials in Diyarbakir, but did not find the people being sought, said Merdan Berk, spokesman for the DBP, a regional party affiliated with HDP.

Those in custody have not been allowed to meet with lawyers.

In September, Turkey put numerous DBP-run governments under federal administration, removing local officials from office.

The DBP officials were removed for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organisation considered a terrorist group by Turkey.

Turkey has been in conflict for most of the last few decades over the actions by the PKK. (dpa/NAN)
OYE/AMY
Edited by Damilola Oyewole and Abdullahi Yusuf

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Panels

By Sunday John

Keffi (Nasarawa State), Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The Nasarawa State Judiciary on Tuesday constituted five appeal panels to review 127 judgments delivered by lower courts in the state.

Justice Suleiman Dikko, the state Chief Judge, announced this at the inauguration of 2016 Second Call-Over Special Appeal Session at the State High Court in Keffi.

“The 127 cases to be reviewed include; 81 civil cases and 46 criminal cases,” Dikko said.

He added that out of the 127 cases, 102 were old cases, while 39 were new.

“Panel 1 would be presided by Justice John Vikko and Justice Simon Ayiwulu, while panels 2, 3, 4 and 5 would be presided over by Aisha Basir and Asmau Mainoma; Abundaga James and Oyigbonu Danjuma.

“Others are Simon Aboki and Daniel Adeka, Rose Soji and Haruna Offor resprectively,” he said.

He warned judges against engaging in corrupt practice, and promised to initiate mechanism to plug possibilities of corrupt practice by the judges and other judicial staff.

Earlier, Mr Iliya Haruna, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Keffi Branch, listed some challenges facing the judiciary to include incessant transfer of judges, and insufficient number of judges and courtrooms in the state.

Other challenges enumerated are poor facilities in the courts and enforcement of court judgments.

He called on the state government to build more courts and renovate old ones.

The NBA chairman also urged the chief judge to take urgent steps to prevent a repeat of the flood that affected High Court 1 and 2 in Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area.

Haruna said that members of the NBA would support the judiciary to ensure success of the appeal session.

Also, Mr Alhassan Sabo, who represented Nasarawa State Commissioner for Justice, Yusuf Usman, urged the judiciary to deal with corrupt officials to safeguard its integrity. (NAN)

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Edited by Bayo Sekoni and Controlled by Maharazu Ahmed

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Conspiracy

By Mohammed Lawal

Zaria (Kaduna State), Oct. 11, 2016 (NAN) The Chief Magistrate Court, sitting at Kings Road, Sabogari, Zaria on Tuesday adjourned a case of N26 million registration fees scandal in Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria to Oct. 25 for definite hearing.

The case is between the Commissioner of Police and six others comprising Emanuel Toyin, Mu’azu Rufa’i, Bello Hassan, Bashir Lawal, Ahmed Yusuf and Shittu Toyin.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)reports that the case involved N26 million registration fees paid by 1,128 students into the Federal College of Education account but is yet to be credited into the college TSA account.

The prosecutor, Nasiru Suleiman had earlier told the court that it was a case of criminal conspiracy.

He said the Bursar of the institute one Mohammed Sani-Uwais and the IPO, Insp. Ruwaya had been summoned as first and second witnesses respectively.

Suleiman, however, said that the first witness had travelled to Abuja for budget defense, while the second witness took his wife to hospital who was put to bed for labour.

He said in the interest of justice, “we appeal for adjournment to enable us serve the witnesses again.”

Counsel to the first accused, Friday Ekeke objected to the application for adjournment.

He argued othat: “At the last sitting, the prosecutor took today’s date with all certainty that the said bursar will be present in the court.

“We all obliged to him, only for the prosecutor to come today. Every responsible citizen is duty bound to court”

Ekeke asked the court not to grant the application and free the first accused, saying, “but in the alternative, if the court feels it will grant the adjournment, let it be the last and adjourn it to a definite hearing.”

Similarly, counsels to second and third accused persons, Yahaya Aliyu and Isiyaku Sabo pleaded for a definite hearing.

The Chief Magistrate, Benjamin Hassan, adjourned the case to Oct. 25 for definite hearing.(NAN)
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Controlled by Tukur Muntari.